Lost in the Wood

Evie looking regal (back view) Weekends in North Wales are stuffed full of interesting arty things to see/ visit at the moment as the annual Helfa Gelf (art trail) is in full swing across 5 counties. So far, me & Evie (see pic) have enjoyed our first time involvement in it. We've been very lucky to be sharing a lovely light & airy studio with two other colourful artists in Y iard (the yard), an idyllic old courtyard of restored workshops at Parc Glynllifon (near Caernarfon). Many artists are opening up their actual studios/barns/workshops/ spare rooms for the public to potter in but others, like us in Unit 9, are renting space for the month. There's definitely some advantage to this, a cluster of artists are presumably more likely to be visited especially when there's a cafe selling huge slices of tasty cakes in the grounds, the Black Cat Cafe . I recommend the ridiculously gooey beetroot & chocolate brownie (just not for a first date, bit too messy/...

Needle Felted Bee Swarm Major excitement in the Lost in the Wood camp last week when my first proper exhibition piece was accepted in The Willow Gallery's 'Natural Selection' exhibition which opened on Saturday! There's some small changes and a few more bees have been added round the base but essentially it looks like this. Each bee was sculpted from merino tops fleece by hand using a barbed felting needle which is an enjoyable but fairly slow process, then they were layered up to create a busy swarm effect. I gave up trying to count the number of  bees that went into this piece. Trying to count them once I'd already fixed quite a few on was in hindsight a bit tricksy, it's over 100 at least. The dome is a piece of old lab equipment while the base is bespoke, made by a fantastic local wood artist John Roberts of Ogwen Art and Craft . In case you're wondering why the bees are unconventionally colourful, here's the artist statement that accompanies the...

Evie starring in 'The Last Days of Summer' A bitesize blog today! Helfa Gelfa has begun in style, Evie has had her makeover & is now looking pretty ravishing / sinister (depending who you ask, apparently there's shades of The Wicker Man about her) at the centre of a strange tea party. Entitled 'The Last Days of Summer', it's a mysterious picnic with a hint of things unravelling. Evie with her crochet rabbit's head (a more ambitious version of my mounted bunny heads), somehow looks both imperious & slightly wanton and exudes a definite nymphish air. She's a work in progress & will by the end of the month be (hopefully) festooned with flowers, vines, creatures & ivy.  I feel very fortunate to be sharing a lovely light & airy studio (reminiscent of a lofty garret) with two other colourful artists, painter Alison Englefield (the photos of her work give the flavour but don't do the wonderful multi layered, intricate ...

Royal Mile Performers Clearly I've been having too much fun & so have been neglecting the weekly blogging. Preparations are in full swing (hint-this is code for frantically working to get it all ready) for Helfa Gelf which starts on Friday, that's THIS FRIDAY! Before immersing myself fully in this though, I just wanted to do a brief round up of the rest of the Edinburgh jaunt. In a programme heavily weighted towards Richard Herring (probably my favourite ever comedian, consistently funny, innovative & hard working), I went to another of his podcast recordings. This one featured Bridget Christie (who the next day deservedly won best show in the Fosters Comedy Award- the renamed Perrier for anyone in their 30s or older), Ed Byrne & a 5 min comic poem by another favourite Luke Wright. Also saw RH's solo stand up show, 'We're All Going to Die' which was enjoyable but not quite as brilliant as previous stand out shows like 'The Headmaster...

The Stand Comedy Club Newly escaped from the office job (forever, hurrah!), I  immediately set off for my native city, Edinburgh, to enjoy some festival fun with family & friends. This year I've taken a slower approach, moseying up to the action/madness in gentle fashion with a cake stop with friends to ease me in (not as used to crowds these days, Caernarfon generally doesn't do frenzy despite the many summer visitors!). Who better to sample a new (well, to us) cafe with but a lady who is very well informed about good cake, Kate from Cake Poppins Cake Poppins We tried out Love Crumbs at the West Port (the old town haunt of the notorious murderers Burke & Hare, now remodelled & amusingly referred to as 'the pubic triangle' due to its lap dancing/strip bars. The bars however, nestle amongst independent shops and cafes, the College of Art & a Catholic church with a beautiful starry ceiling so it's not as insalubrious as it sounds!). Love Crumbs...

Poison & Crochet Leeches Jars Thought it was time for a more crochet centred post as I seem to have been distracted my lovely summer events and activities recently (I'm not sorry). This morning I was inspired by this story on BBC Wales www.bbc.co.uk/Medicinal leech farming making a comeback in Wales Istanbul Leeches Apparently,"leech-farming is back in Wales... the 60,000 leeches a year they provide for hospitals throughout Europe make Swansea's Biopharm the biggest suppliers of leeches in the UK." Long associated with quack medicine, they actually introduce a powerful anticoagulant chemical into blood making them "perfect for microsurgery, particularly when severed fingers or toes have been reattached".  So far, my only sighting of real leeches was an odd spin on the imagined old glass bottled leeches (previously available in all good old apothecaries). I spotted a large plastic drum (a recycled water cooler I suspected) of leeches for hi...

Amelia Puddle Hello folks, this week has been full of big announcements and much artiness! Peter Capaldi as the next Doctor has been met with cheerful warmth in our little cottage and sighs of relief that it wasn't someone alarming like the smug student from the BT ads or Shane Ritchie (as my friend upsettingly threw into the rumour mix). Our personal hopefuls were Ben Wishaw, 'Johnson' from Peep Show & Zawe Ashton (the fabulous 'Vod' from Fresh Meat) but Peter C is certainly ok by us. Even more excitingly, The Doctor's new companion was unveiled today, rather unbelievably, at the national Eisteddfod in Denbigh. As pictured, the producers requested a cut-price Amy Pond type so hurrah, it is I! I'm planning a bilingual effort after doing surprisingly well in my recent Welsh exam (most surprising perhaps to the people who have tried to chat with me 'ym Cymraeg'). Sadly, my make-me-look-cooler oversized sunglasses have broken so I'm looking ...